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Government Uncovered Freedom of Information Equals Freedom From Corruption Access to information is vital to Judicial Watch’s efforts to hold politicians accountable for their actions. This is why the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is such an important tool for Judicial Watch. Each issue of JW Verdict will include an analysis of FOIA documents obtained by Judicial Watch. In this issue, JW Verdict focuses on the Administration’s war on terrorism. Judicial Watch has been critical of the Bush Administration’s inconsistent approach in dealing with U.S. based charities that support terrorist activities. The Bush Administration correctly takes a harsh stand against some; however others are let off the hook. Thanks to a recent FOIA request, JW uncovered information about a meeting Attorney General John Ashcroft had with George Salem, an attorney for the terrorist front group Holy Land Foundation, in the days following the September 11 terrorist attacks. In addition to representing terrorists, Mr. Salem is also an influential fundraiser for Republican candidates, including President Bush. As the Attorney Generals schedule below indicates, Salem was able to wrangle a meeting with John Ashcroft on October 16. Attorney General Aschroft has never met with Judicial Watch representatives despite repeated attempts to do so. Relevance Immediately following the attacks of September 11, the Administration promised a multi-faceted war on terrorism that included destroying the financial networks used to fund terrorist activities. As part of this effort, the State Department provided a list of 27 U.S. based non-profit charities that were believed to be associated with terrorists. Notably absent from this list was the Holy Land Foundation, despite the fact that the organization had been under investigation by the FBI for its ties to the radical Islamic terrorist group Hamas at least since 1996. Judicial Watch made repeated attempts to persuade the Administration to immediately target the Holy Land Foundation and 18 other such charities it had identified, but to no avail. The Administration waited months before honoring the request. The exact content of Mr. Salem’s meeting with the Attorney General has yet to be determined. However one can reasonably expect, given that Mr. Salem is listed as a "Arab, Muslim and Sikh representative," that the purpose of his visit was to convince the Administration to leave his client, the Holy Land Foundation, alone. Given the fact that the U.S. government knew of the organization's ties to terrorism and yet still refused to hold it accountable raises questions as to whether or not the Bush Administration sacrificed national security in order to placate a chief Republican contributor. |
